EN hUMIN in 1 Cor 3.18
Steven Lo Vullo
slovullo at mac.com
Sat Nov 23 02:03:20 EST 2002
Greetings to all:
1 Cor 3.18: EI TIS DOKEI SOFOS EINAI EN hUMIN EN TWi AIWNI TOUTWi,
MWROS GENESQW, hINA GENHTAI SOFOS.
It seems that there are two possible ways to construe EN hUMIN--either
with TIS or SOFOS. It looks like most English translations opt for the
former ("anyone among you" or something similar). The only exception I
know of is the ASV ("If any man thinketh that he is wise among you in
this world"). It seems to me that the difference is substantial. If
construed with TIS, the reference would be simply to anyone among them
who considered himself wise. If construed with SOFOS, the reference
would be to someone who fancied himself wise among, i.e., in comparison
with, others in the congregation. This would seem to fit not only the
immediate, but also the broader context of 1 Corinthians, where the
exaltation of one above another or of oneself above others is
prominent. Its position in the sentence would seem to substantiate this
understanding. DOKEI introduces an object clause expressing indirect
speech. So EN hUMIN, placed as it is within the object clause, would
seem more naturally to be part of the indirect speech than part of the
controlling clause. Converted to direct speech, we would have something
like, "I consider myself wise among you," or, to loosely paraphrase,
"Among this lot, I think I'm a standout in the wisdom department." Does
this sound right?
============
Steven R. Lo Vullo
Madison, WI
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